Scratch Alumni Series: Samantha, Growing an Artistic Movement in Scratch
Samantha is a high-school junior in Maryland. On Scratch, she’s known as @samanthaflorence, a talented animator whose “abstract animations” were a viral sensation that continue to spark Scratchers’ imaginations seven years after they were first shared! Scratch helped her build a caring and supportive community, and provided a space for her to blend her passions for algorithmic thinking, problem solving, and creativity. Now, she works to bring STEM to the next generation through her volunteer work in Title-I elementary schools, and looks forward to a future in Physics and scientific research.
Starting from Scratch
Samantha first discovered Scratch when she was around nine years old. Her father, a software engineer, had tried to introduce her to traditional text-based programming, but she recalls, “I didn’t really pick up on it because of all the different rules and brackets to remember. It was too much for me as a nine-year-old.”
When her father found Scratch, though, coding clicked for Samantha. She liked that creating in Scratch provided a contrast to the often rigid nature of school:
“In school, creative projects and problem solving are kept separate. You have your math tests and your homework, and then you have art projects. But Scratch sort of brought that together for me and allowed me to work on projects that I was passionate about.”
As a new Scratcher, Samantha explored the online community and was especially inspired by animators, whose work she really admired.
She remembers, “When I first started Scratch, I really wanted to get noticed, to have my projects be seen by people, but I didn’t think I would ever get there. I saw all these creators on the front page [of Scratch] and I was like, ‘Oh, they must be such good coders. I’m never going to be that way.’”
Whenever Samantha found projects she loved, she left positive comments and connected with the creators. Soon, she had an inspiring network of friends who collaborated on projects, cheered each other on, and helped one another develop their skills. And before she knew it, she was gaining recognition, too.
“With persistence, it was really surprising to me how quickly people were able to interact with my projects and start seeing the things that I made,” she shares. “I think the number one takeaway from Scratch that I had was if you work hard at something, you will get recognition and people will start to see your work.”
Community, in the Abstract
One afternoon in 2016, Samantha was in for a huge surprise: her project Abstract Animation had been featured on the front page of Scratch by the Scratch Team. She says, “I remember coming home from school and just screaming and being like, ‘Oh my God, it’s featured! Everyone’s liking it. People are making their own. I was super happy.”
Samantha’s project, based on simple shapes rather than detailed illustrations, catalyzed many Scratchers who weren’t traditional artists to try their hand at animating. Just as Samantha gained inspiration from Scratchers whose work she admired, new Scratchers began to look up to her as a role model.
Inspired by her passion for collaboration, she spun the project into a series of multi-animator projects, contests, community studios, and more. When she challenged her followers to remix and reimagine her abstract animations, one Scratcher used Samantha’s project as a platform to share hopeful messages — and their remixed project was featured on the Scratch homepage, too! Samantha was overjoyed that her concept was “evolving” and spreading throughout the community.
“I couldn’t believe it. The response to Abstract Animation in particular was just so positive … People were so interested in this idea and this concept that they wanted to make [animations] of their own,” she says. “People even just loved to discuss the creative process of abstract animating with me, and it was really heartwarming the way that everyone was so enthusiastic about it.”
Looking Forward & Paying it Forward
Now a junior in high school, Samantha has a busy course load in preparation for college. This year, she took on an AP Computer Science course, and found that her time creating in Scratch gave her a strong foundation.
“Scratch allowed me to practice algorithmic thinking and methodical problem-solving from a young age,” she shares. “I have found it extraordinarily helpful in school, especially this year in my coding class, where creating complex code easily became second-nature all thanks to the concepts I had learned from Scratch.”
When she’s not exploring quantum computing, playing the violin, or prepping for her future college goals of studying Physics and conducting scientific research, Samantha takes time to work with an afterschool club that brings engaging STEM activities to Title-I elementary schools in her area.
She was initially worried that elementary students wouldn’t be interested in STEM, but found that “if you make it digestible in the same way that Scratch makes coding digestible, they are so enthusiastic, super excited about it, and they’re also so grateful for the opportunity to learn these things.”
When asked why working with these students is so important to her, Samantha is reminded of all of the role models that helped her along her STEM education journey: “If people didn’t make an effort for me through things like Scratch and the Code.org lessons I had when I was in elementary school, I would’ve never thought that coding was something I could do.”
Samantha wants to combat the misconception that STEM careers are reserved for “the smartest people in the world,” or those who have traditionally seen themselves in STEM roles. She emphasizes, “If you’re passionate about this … you can bring in a whole new generation of super passionate, brilliant young people into STEM.”
Once a Scratcher, Always a Scratcher!
Scratch served as a safe, supportive place for Samantha to learn how to interact with friends online, and she fondly remembers her time growing up in the community. She shares, “Scratch was my first online space, and I couldn’t have asked for a better community to be a part of. There aren’t a lot of places for a nine- or ten-year-old to [share their creative projects], and gain that sort of interaction and inspiration … It was a really nice way to be exposed to creating as such a young kid.”
Samantha never fully left the Scratch community behind. Though she’s not as active now, seven years after she began making abstract animations, Scratchers continue to leave comments on Samantha’s projects and remix her work! She loves to visit the community and see that her projects are “continually having an impact” — all these years later, Scratchers still tell her that her animations inspired them to become animators themselves. On her enduring Scratch legacy, she says, “I don’t know how it happened or why, but I’m grateful for it!”
If you or someone you know is interested in participating in the Scratch Alumni series, please complete this form: http://ow.ly/g6bt50MEGNw
